The original Broadway version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid musical was derided by critics for having the cast propel around the stage on wheelie sneakers to simulate swimming. It never really worked and instead took the audience out of the performance. In the Japanese production… Read More »The fantastic design of Japanese Production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Musical
Actress Ashley Brown took a few minutes out of her family’s visit to the Magic Kingdom to answer some fan questions. She’s played both Belle and Mary Poppins on Broadway, so you know she has an answer ready for everything. Brown also stopped in and… Read More »Celebrity Spotting: Ashley Brown (Broadway’s Mary Poppins) at the Magic Kingdom
One of the great things Disney does is license a junior production of a Peter Pan stage musical. It’s based on both J.M. Barrie’s original enchanting play and Disney’s classic film. Perfect for community theater or school performances, “Peter Pan” is often a child’s first… Read More »Amazing Disney’s Peter Pan Jr mural
The entrance to the Amsterdam theater in New York City’s Times Square used to feature a giant purple ad, that featured the genie-inspired logo for the musical. When I was there, patrons and even just passers-by on the streets would stop to take a photo on the wall.
Disney has now upgraded that wall to make it an actual photo-op featuring the Cave of Wonders and a magic lamp. Watch the installation video here:
There’s a whole amazing scene to take your photos with, but people seem to be focusing on the magic lamp:
and #selfie, of course:
Read More »Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway adds Fun photo-op
Congratulations to the team at Disney theatrical, for the second year in a row Disney’s “The Lion King” musical ruled the pridelands of Broadway as the top earning musical. Disney actually had two of the top 5 spots with “Aladdin” taking 5th place on the… Read More »Disney’s The Lion King is top Broadway earner for 2014
Disney Theatrical continues its release of videos featuring members of The Lion King on Broadway cast performing songs from the show with a new twist. “Shadowland” is a powerful song that was written just for the musical, but based on the score from the movie… Read More »Shadowland from The Lion King on Disney Playlist
Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Disney opened its first production of “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway. Since then it’s successfully brought 11 productions to the Great White Way, not all of them based on classic Disney animated features either. Disney will… Read More »Disney Theatrical celebrates 20 years on Broadway
The cast of Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway recently took to Reddit for an AMA (ask me anything) session. Adam Jacobs (Aladdin), James Monroe Iglehart (Genie), and Jonathan Freeman (Jafar) responded to fans questions. The whole interview is worth reading, but here are some of the highlights:
When was the last time they let their heart decide? James responded with a story from his recent trip to Walt Disney World:
I let my heart decide whether to go on Space Mountain or the new Seven Dwarves Mine Ride and Fantasy Land? I went on Seven Dwarves, because that was the coolest roller coaster I’ve been on in a LONG time. It shouldn’t be cool, and you expect because it’s Snow White it’ll be all kiddie and stuff, and the minute you go down, it’s not a regular thing – it was a good hard decision.
Where James’ take on The Genie comes from:
the AMAZING, Late Great Howard Ashman – he is the mind, the brain, behind Aladdin, the idea of it to be a Disney film. His original idea for the Genie was to be more like Cab Calloway and Fats Waller – and so because I’m such a huge fan of Robin Williams, and he’s such a legend, I didn’t want to touch his material. No one can be Robin. Only Robin. So when they told me about Howard’s original idea, I didn’t feel so afraid to make it my own, because that world – Cab Calloway, Fats Waller – that swing music – I know that world. And also, our wonderful director Casey Nicholaw, he told me to find my own Genie. So I started doing all the silly things I think are funny. What you see onstage is me with the volume onstage turned up to about 30. So I got to be as silly as I want to be, while still paying homage to the film. I saw the film when I was 17, in 1992, and i’m a HUGE fan, so I wanted to give play to that.
Jonathan Freeman (who also voiced Jafar in the movie) on stealing form the movie for Jafar:
Good point. I do try to steal a little bit of Jafar’s physicality from the film, since i’m not that much like him physically, I do try to steal what I can – because I think that was really a huge part of it.
I can’t get enough of Disney’s Aladdin. I hope to get up to NYC soon to take in a show for myself. But in the meantime, I’m happy that ABC7 in NYC has shared this backstage look at the musical.Read More »A backstage pass to Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway